Clear Soul Forces Get No Better

Trying to establish a presence in the collective conscious of hip hop, whether popular or underground, is an increasingly difficult endeavor. Especially when you come from Detroit, MI. The city has such a deep and prominent history in American music period, hip hop included, that cats have to work twice as hard than if they were trying to come up elsewhere. Clear Soul Forces, a quartet from the Motor City, is trying to do just that.

L.A.Z., E-fave, J-Roc (not the DJ), and Ilajide are four twenty-somethings who are doing their damnedest to earn your ears. One listen to any track off Detroit Revolution(s) and you'll be greeted with four particularly tight and cohesive flows. The track we've chosen here, "Get No Better," starts off with sublime keys that could remind one of ATCQ but the verses add an intensity that makes for an enjoyable duality.

They rap about the usuals -- rapping better than you, how great they are as people, and the kind of shit they don't keep around them -- but by now you should know in modern hip hop it's all about how it's done rather than what exactly is being executed. They take themselves seriously as MCs but not as characters, there is no feeling of fabricated grandeur in their voices, a refreshing trait.

Red Bull Sound Stage also seems to believe in the foursome. They recently shot the second edition of their Sound & Vision video series on the group, taking the viewer on a trip around the city of Detroit within the context of the members' four personal experiences. Moving in its own right as a testament to perseverance in dire circumstances, the 12 minute video makes you feel like you've spent days kickin' it with CSF and by the end you just might find yourself rooting for them.

Also, big up to the man FWMJ for initially hipping me to the group.